1902: The Launch of an English Vessel that Ultimately Performed Various Roles on Behalf of Canada

March 15, 1902

In the English market town and civil parish of Beverley, a vessel constructed there by the shipbuilding company Cook,Welton & Gemmell was launched. This 149-foot (45-meter)-long vessel was named King Edward, the country’s reigning monarch at the time, and her original owner was James Holliday.

In 1911, this vessel ended up in Canada after being sold to the Quebec-based firm A.C & G.D. Davie. The vessel was renamed Laurentian and, until 1913, she was chartered to the Canadian Customs Preventive Service on behalf of the country’s Department of Marine and Fisheries. The ownership of Laurentian was then transferred to G.T. Davie & Sons (known today as Davie Shipbuilding). In 1915, Laurentian became part of the fleet of Canada Steamship Lines.  

In 1917 — with Canada fighting in World War I on the side of the Allied Powers — Laurentian was acquired by the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) to serve as part of that military branch’s auxiliary patrol force along the Atlantic coast. As HMCS Laurentian, this vessel was based out of the city of Sydney (dissolved in 1995) in Nova Scotia. She operated as a patrol vessel until her decommissioning in January 1919.

Laurentian was then transferred to the executive body that had been known as the Department of Marine and Fisheries until being renamed the Department of Naval Services in 1914. Starting in 1920, this agency was again called the Department of Marine and Fisheries. In 1930, however, the agency was split up to form separate departments for marine and fisheries. Five years later, the Department of Marine became part of the newly established Department of Transport (known today as Transport Canada). The Department of Fisheries, for its part, is now called Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

During her tour of duty initially as part of the Department of Naval Service and ultimately under the aegis of the Department of Transport, Laurentian was deployed as both a buoy tender and lighthouse supply vessel until being retired from service in 1946. The following year, she was broken up for scrap. (The accompanying photo of Laurentian was taken during her time in the RCN.)

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on Laurentian (originally named King Edward), please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Laurentian

Additional information on vessels built in Beverley, England, is available at https://www.humberpacketboats.co.uk/beverley.html